Auxiliary / Helper verbs
Auxiliary / Helper verbs
being “Gwil, Mydnas, Gallos” and of course “Bos”.
Bos – to be
Gwil – to do or to make
Mydnas – to wish
Gallos – to be able
These verbs are very useful when making sentences or asking questions.
They can be used in two ways;
- In conjunction with personal pronouns (me, te, ev, hy, ny, why, y)
- Each verb has verbal paradigms to cover the different tenses (see below)
Often it is easier for you to use these verbs with personal pronouns as these are used with the third person singular of the verb only and do not require you to know all the paradigms for the specific verb you wish to use.
It should be remembered that “Bos” has significantly more tenses than the other verbs, so we will concentrate on “Gwil, Mydnas and Gallos”,
Verbal Paradigms:
Gwil – present/future
Gwrav vy – I do/make
Gwres ta / Gwreta – you do/make
Gwra ev – he does/makes
Gwra hy – she does/makes
Gwren ny – we do/make
Gwrewgh why – you do/make
Gwrowns y – they do/make
Gwil – using personal pronouns
Me a wra – I do/make
Te a wra – you do/make
Ev a wra – he does/makes
Hy a wra – she does/makes
Ny a wra – we do/make
Why a wra – you do/make
Y a wra – they do/make
Note: the “a” particle creates a second/soft mutation and therefore the “g” is removed
Mydnas – present/future
Mydnaf vy – I wish to
Mydnys ta / Mynta – you wish to
Mydn ev – he wishes to
Mydn hy – she wishes to
Mydnyn ny – we wish to
Mydnowgh why – you wish to
Mydnons y – they wish to
Mydnas – using personal pronouns
Me a vydn – I wish to
Te a vydn – you wish to
Ev a vydn – he wishes to
Hy a vydn – she wishes to
Ny a vydn – we wish to
Why a vydn – you wish to
Y a vydn – they wish to
Note: the “a” particle creates a second/soft mutation and changes the “m” to “v”
Gallos – present/future
Gallaf vy – I can
Gyllyth ta / Gylta – you can
Gyll ev – he can
Gyll hy – she can
Gyllyn ny – we can
Gyllowgh why – you can
Gyllons y – they can
Gallos – using personal pronouns
Me a yll – I can
Te a yll – you can
Ev a yll – he can
Hy a yll – she can
Ny a yll – we can
Why a yll – you can
Y a yll – they can
Note: the “a” particle creates a second/soft mutation and the “g” is removed
When using the verbs in question form the paradigm of the verb is used e.g.
A wrav vy – do I?
A vydnys ta – do you want/wish?
A yllyn ny – can we
Note; the 2nd mutation is still applied after “A”
In this case Yes and No are:
Gwra – Yes
Na wra – no
Gyll – Yes
Na yll - No
Note:
It is important to remember that the present/future tense of “Gwil and Mydnas” is usually used with a future meaning and therefore in most cases the following meanings apply:
Me a wra kerdhes – I will walk ( I will do)
Te a wra neyja – you will swim (You will do)
Me a vydn kerdhes – I will walk (I will want to)
Te a vydn neyja – I will swim (I will want)
So if you wish to use “Gwil or Mydnas” in the present tense, it is in the form of a statement for example:
“I do walk” is actually expressed as “I be walking (I am walking)” as in Sawsnek, and therefore as it is “continuous” you use the long form present tense of “Bos” plus adding “ow or owth (if before a vowel or Y) before a verb to create the “ing” sound.
Bos – longform
Esof vy – I be
Esos ta/Esta – you be
Eus ev – he be
Eus hy – she be
Eson ny – we be
Esowgh why – you be
Usons y – they be
Remember when using a statement “Yth / Yma” comes before the helper verb, so I am walking would be;
Yth esof vy ow kerdhes
Another important point to remember is that “ow or owth” creates a 4th mutation which changes the intial letter/letters of the following verb as follows
B > P
D > T
G > C or K
GW > QW
So to say “I am eating” would be:
Yth esof vy ow tebry (I be eating)
Note the change from “d” to “t” in the use of “debry – to eat” following “ow” to create eating in the present tense
However, “I will eat” would be:
Me a wra debry – I will (do) eat
Me a vydn debry – I will (wish to) eat
Here are some examples of how verbs are affected by the use of “ow”
Debry (to eat) – ow tebry (eating)
Dos (to come) – ow tos (coming)
Gweles (to see) – ow qweles (seeing)
Redya (to read) – ow redya (reading)
Scrifa (to right) – ow scrifa (writing)
Ola (to cry) – owth ola (crying)
Sedha (to sit) – ow sedha (sitting)
Bewa (to live) – ow pewa (living)
Trega (to dwell) – ow trega (dwelling)
Godra (to milk) – ow codra (milking)
Desky (to learn) – ow tesky (learning)
How to say “to want to”
In Kernowek to say “I want to” you can use “garsa” which is a form of “cara – to love or to like” to make the sentence, along with personal pronouns, for example “I want to eat” would be;
Me a garsa debry
Note; this is 3rd person conditional singular of “cara” which is “carsa” but the “a” particle creates a 2nd mutation from “c > g”
Me a garsa debry – I want to eat
Te a garsa neyja – You want to swim
Ev a garsa marhogeth – He wants to ride
Hy a garsa redya – She wants to read
Ny a garsa mos – We want to go
Why a garsa dos – You want to come
Y a garsa eva – They want to drink